Most of us tend to shop regularly at the same supermarket. Promotions are the supermarkets’ attempts to break that behaviour.
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There is data to show it works, [AUT marketing lecturer] Phillips says. In 2016, My Little Garden triggered a lot of what the experts call “switching behaviour”. New World had a 3.6 per cent sales increase (worth $14.4 million) during the promotional period. Pak ’n Save dropped 1.9 per cent and Countdown fell 0.6 per cent, Phillips says.
The experts say customers don’t instantly and automatically switch back at the end of a promotion but the chains are engaged in a constant “Cold War” to keep them. It is why, when one chain runs a promotion, the other will roll one out shortly afterwards.
Ad-so Australia takes a moral stand on human rights issues in China (while NZ keeps sucking up to China) and all you can see is a chance for cheap wine from Oz because China has retaliated.
Wait until China controls the international monetary system and endlessly imposes illegal sanctions like the US, instead of deciding who it will trade with and when.
Say you were to discover that a majority of prices in the economy are set via some form of cost + markup pricing, and not supply and demand. Would you still expect Penfolds to give you their wine at a discount?
That would, I hope, depend on a completely unregulated market free from any other constraint other than my perfect knowledge of the market, a Licensing Trust able to attend to me needs without thought for its internal mass buyers, the market's perfect knowledge of Penfold's, and and zero impact from any government or regulation, anywhere.
I reckon it is no different with the stories we weave and the necessary narratives to tell and develop these stories. The story must be complete, an integrated self-consistent set of facts and factoids. Some people will go to great lengths to make sure no pieces are missing and sometimes people will force a piece into the whole/hole even though it doesn’t fit neatly.
If forests could or should be considered and/or are indeed superorganisms, why would this stop at the DoC signpost at the boundary? Is it just the flora or does it also include the fauna? If yes, what does that mean to the boundary? What does rain and wind mean for the boundary, and streams and rivers? Is communication bi-directional, does it travel upstream and upwind? I think there’s a good story in there, about the terror in the forest and the Dark Woods.
After recently putting up the rent 14%, he then kicks out a mother and her son who has learning disabilities on the eve of a law change to protect tenants because "he deciding what to do".
He says it is business first, but then other landlords say theirs is an important public service, first.
Who to believe, or should we believe none of them?
A quick search on the govt tenancy website shows the range of rents for 3bed homes in Wainuiomata is $500 – 550pw.
Increasing the rent to $430 pw shows that McKenzie had let the rent fall well behind market. It never does anyone any favours in the long run – and I can well understand the dismay of the mother who not only has to try and find a new home in a very tight market, but faces a rental jump in the order of $100pw at the same time.
A 3 bed home in Wainui is probably worth north of $700k if he'd been getting a rent of $380pw – gross income about $19.7k pa – that's a yield of under 3%. His net in the pocket after fixed costs, mortgage and tax was almost certainly less than $5kpa.
At least it will have a nice fresh lick of paint and be tidied up. That’s all aspiring new tenants wish for nowadays and they won’t mind paying the price because beggars can’t be choosers.
Nikki And Cole Prier don’t come into it for landlords.
Given how far behind the market their rent had fallen – I'll bet you that their unfortunate personal position actually did 'come into it' for McKenzie.
We've got one older couple who've been with us for over a decade and they pay way below market – but we deliberately choose to carry them because they both contribute to their community magnificently.
But as I said above – in the long run it may not be doing either party any favours.
“I am now deciding whether to get out of being a landlord, or not,” he said.
“With the uncertainty of what’s coming up, I’ve had a guts full. I’ll renovate the house, then make a decision about whether to put it on the market.”
As I indicated the other night – my own average rent at the present is $384 pw – a very similar number to the story above, and the properties are newer and in a more desirable suburb. Any thoughts on whether I should sell up and 'evict' a whole bunch of people from their homes?
Because honestly that's what's going through my mind. Our equity would do a whole lot better for us in Australia at the moment.
That's pathetic. I'm giving you real life facts and figures from my experience as a real world landlord for almost 20 yrs. If you don't understand how the business works then anything you say is going to amount to little more than pious, futile prattle.
I'm not asking for anyone's pity – how I choose to run my business is precisely my responsibility and no-one else's. But I am prepared to educate you in some basic numbers and their consequences.
As I mentioned the other night – one of the reasons why we moved to Australia 8yrs ago was because our mortage was indeed putting us under considerable pressure.
Essentially over the past 20yrs we've actually had to put money into the business to keep it afloat, and our tenants in their homes. We're now in the position of having shitloads of equity, but crap cash flow, and because I'm close to retiring that isn't something I can sustain anymore.
What would you do? Sell and evict – or hold on and hope the business environment doesn't continue to become more hostile?
I get where you're coming from, but from the perspective of an investor they will often be looking to add value, usually a significant renovation, and vacant possession will be important to them.
Essentially over the past 20yrs we've actually had to put money into the business to keep it afloat, and our tenants in their homes. We're now in the position of having shitloads of equity, but crap cash flow, and because I'm close to retiring that isn't something I can sustain anymore.
The trouble with this is that I've heard this description from not only landlords but farmers as well, except farmers don't like to flaunt their equity in public.
The total values of assets that can be realised is the figure that most people will focus on. If you have $10M in equity but moan your a**e off about pitiful cashflow, then you generally won't get a lot of sympathy.
I've made it clear I'm not asking for sympathy. I chose to get into this business and have stuck at it for 20 years now. That's my responsibility and no-one else's. All I'm doing here is explaining how the business works in order that people can make informed sense of these stories they read.
Rule No. 1 in all businesses is that cash flow is king. No matter how much shareholder funds you have, how much capital, stock, ring-fenced tax loss, forward orders or anything else – if you cannot meet this month's cash burn the business is bankrupt. And what I've explained here – overshared if you will – is that most residential rental businesses, like many NZ businesses (certainly those with substantial debt), are running on pretty thin cash flow margins. Or are being propped up by the owner's PAYE income.
Just as an extra data point – fixed costs used to run at about 20% of rental income, and here in Australia we can see this is still the case. By contrast in NZ they've risen to somewhere between 35 – 40% in recent years. And in the past most people could reasonably run the business themselves, but increasingly the environment has forced owners to use professional managers – and there's another 10% of cashflow gobbled up.
So even small extra costs imposed by new govt rules, or bad tenants, or even just letting the rent fall too far behind market because you felt sorry for a tenant, can have a big impact on the bottom line cashflow.
The total values of assets that can be realised is the figure that most people will focus on.
Equity means nothing unless I either sell or borrow more against it – and neither is a non-trivial decision. It's this background that helps decode what was going on with the original Wainui story above.
Stepping back, this is as you've pointed out, a wider theme with the whole NZ economy, too much has over the past three decades has tilted toward capital gain for profit, rather than cash flow. It's a structural flaw across many sectors that has distorted our decision-making and tends toward market failure. (I recall writing on this here at TS over a decade ago.)
It's especially chronic in agriculture. About that time we had looked at diversifying into a small horticultural business – and I recall one offer that was priced at over $2m for a business that barely turned over $160k. Utterly nuts – literally.
Which is why I was a strong supporter and promoter here of TOP's Comprehensive Capital Tax proposal. Not so much because I thought the party was a ripper – but because in my view it was a intelligently designed tax that would actually achieve what it was intended to do.
I was going to reply to your comment the other night about landlords creaming it but decided not to – it is sitting there half-finished. I think it is much better this way.
Why you would want to evict your tenants from your rentals is unclear to me except to free up equity. If you need (to do) that, then you can justify it, at least to yourself. It is your decision.
Don’t ask for business advice here, unless you really want/need it and intend to follow it. Ask a professional instead.
Don’t share your business wheeling and dealing here unless you want to cop the flack for it. Over-sharing carries many risks online for little gain/benefit even though your intention might be to provide a different PoV to guide/inform discussion and lift to a ‘higher plane’ than the usual ‘landlord-bashing’, which I respect and understand, but it doesn’t get you far, does it?
I could do similar things on discussion topics here but I’m not prepared to die in the ditch for those unless it is about a core value of mine – details are less important and there are other ways to get your point across without divulging too much personal information or history; arguments should be able to stand on their own legs of merit and persuasion.
Don’t ask for business advice here, unless you really want/need it and intend to follow it. Ask a professional instead.
In effect I am the professional here and I've been sharing information on how the residential rental business actually works. I've been doing this solely in the hope that some people here might stop treating their landlord as some spawn of the devil – and start focusing on the real reasons why the housing market in NZ has gotten into the mess it has.
But maybe you're right – the effort was doomed to be futile from the outset.
… and personal stories that rehumanize each other to each other.
…
There is no We if we see each other through partisan caricatures and don’t engage directly. When we hear each others’ stories, we know that in real life, good versus evil is rarely the truth, …
The other important tension that exists in this landlord/tenant discussion is for one party it is a business. The tax benefits, passive income etc, the leverage available…
The other party it is home, a place for family, a garden, pets, to love, laugh weep. A turangawaewae.
Failing to acknowledge the other view is where the argy barty begins.
Like Kiwi attitudes to land. One view is my property, my rights etc. The other is stewardship, a responsibility to pass it forward in better knick, to treat and see it as if it were alive. A strong spiritual bond.
Well Red, you've made tonnes of equity over the years.
Rent + tax preferences + equity increases = a reasonable rate of return.
You sound like you're in a steady place.
This is a leftie site so few will have patience to give non-Socialist advice.
But you are still of sufficiently sound mind that you can throw the dice another way than real estate.
In New Zealand, Victoria, or Queensland we need more people prepared to cash up and invest in fresh local growing business that's better for the whole economy.
Reading the article, he actually comes across as a pretty decent landlord. If Red Logix's numbers correct, then he has been giving her a very good deal for a long time.
Unfortunately, this is a consequence of the new rental laws. If he was intending to sell or do a major upgrade, I thought under the new rules he could still give the 90 day notice?
So it seems a bit like he 'panicked' and gave notice now when in fact if he decides to sell in a years time he could still give notice.
More rent controls will probably make more landlords sell which may be ok as possibly first home buyers would buy. But could be less rentals available. This tenant has been paying $380 per week up until recently which sounds extremely cheap, so he has been subsidizing her for some time now, so he sounds like a very reasonable landlord. He possibly could have given her notice several years ago and rented it out for far more if he had been greedy.
So you think the landlord is disorganized because for example, he decided to charge her $380 per week instead of the going market rate for the last few years? Well you will be pleased to know that there are many landlords out there that are well organized, and will charge as much as they can, and also raise the rent as often as possible. Many other people would refer to them as greedy rather than organized!
I guess the elephant in the room is that no doubt the tax payer will subsidize the next rental through accomodation supplements.
I can't help but think that a big part of the issue we have is that public funds are paid to enable tennants to meet rents far above their normal income allows.
The policy came from a good place but the unintended consequence of the scheme sas that it has in effect acted as a wealth transfer and helps fuel the house price increases.
Imagine if there had been no supplements from govt, the money required to pay the huge rents required to pay the equally huge mortgages/provide a return just wouldnt be there, ergo banks would have been far more reluctant to lend and price increases would have closer matched incomes.
The govt getting out of social housing and essentially contracting it out to the private sector was a huge mistake and one that is not able to be undone in a hurry. Nonetheless the only solution I can see is that we get stuck in on a massive state backed building program aimed at sucking air out of house price increases. Pouring more money in to help first home buyers or renters for that matter will not help.
Given that he's also pissy about the healthy homes regulations anf the july deadline for that, and that timeframe means it's likely that most of the bonds issued in the last 6 months will be for healthy homes, it's possible he was keeping up with the market rates.
Complete gratitude and respect for the work the MIQ workers. They should all get some sort of significant award….give them a knighthood, a ceremony like the oscars. True hero’s and heroines
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The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
The Fast-track Bill, if passed, would allow three Ministers, unchallenged and unchecked, to approve the immediate extraction and exhaustion of one-off resources. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
What regional development could look like….I hope the PGF is backing these types of initiatives in spades
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife/audio/2018784336/miro-bringing-jobs-home
The man who gave the world the term "feminazi" is dead at 70.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtjFrCGFzu4
How those supermarket 'collectable' campaigns work. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/124260714/the-summer-of-smeg–why-new-worlds-knife-promotion-worked-so-well
Marketing 101, the two NZ supermarket chains are very good at it.
Quite a chunk of the Australian wine industry has simply collapsed due to Chinese trade retaliation for alleged price dumping.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/16/business/australia-china-wine-tariffs-dst-intl-hnk/index.html
And yet the price of Penfolds hasn't dropped here. I think it should.
You know it is not quite like the international oil market but
Maybe people should consider not using nature to make money from the unreliable global economy.
Love to see the carbon footprint of shipping wine across the planet too.
It's almost like people don't understand there's an massive crisis on the horizon.
Ad-so Australia takes a moral stand on human rights issues in China (while NZ keeps sucking up to China) and all you can see is a chance for cheap wine from Oz because China has retaliated.
Some moral compass you have there Ad.
The natural endpoint of chardonnay socialism was their discovery of the Barossa Valley reds.
My wine collection is almost exclusively Aussie reds.
This isn't hard – the world is waking up to the fact that Xi Xinping's regime is acting like an enemy not a trade partner.
Once this has sunk in – everyone will start to work out ways of decoupling existing trade and supply chains out of the CCP's reach – ASAP.
Aussie wine producers have been done a favour here with an advanced heads up.
Wait until China controls the international monetary system and endlessly imposes illegal sanctions like the US, instead of deciding who it will trade with and when.
More likely to go the other way though isn't it.
Say you were to discover that a majority of prices in the economy are set via some form of cost + markup pricing, and not supply and demand. Would you still expect Penfolds to give you their wine at a discount?
http://socialdemocracy21stcentury.blogspot.com/2014/05/mark-up-pricing-in-20-nations-and.html
That would, I hope, depend on a completely unregulated market free from any other constraint other than my perfect knowledge of the market, a Licensing Trust able to attend to me needs without thought for its internal mass buyers, the market's perfect knowledge of Penfold's, and and zero impact from any government or regulation, anywhere.
That would just be so sweet.
@ Sacha @ 3:
Yes, I read that one too.
I reckon it is no different with the stories we weave and the necessary narratives to tell and develop these stories. The story must be complete, an integrated self-consistent set of facts and factoids. Some people will go to great lengths to make sure no pieces are missing and sometimes people will force a piece into the whole/hole even though it doesn’t fit neatly.
Stories? This is a must-read (so, read it! 🙂
https://charleseisenstein.org/essays/to-reason-with-a-madman/
A tantalising title 😉
I just might read it.
If forests could or should be considered and/or are indeed superorganisms, why would this stop at the DoC signpost at the boundary? Is it just the flora or does it also include the fauna? If yes, what does that mean to the boundary? What does rain and wind mean for the boundary, and streams and rivers? Is communication bi-directional, does it travel upstream and upwind? I think there’s a good story in there, about the terror in the forest and the Dark Woods.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/124256600/the-mysterious-existence-of-a-leafless-kauri-stump-kept-alive-by-its-forest-neighbours
People worry about schools closed or not closed or not closed long enough due to Covid-19.
Maybe they should worry more about this instead:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/124183902/rising-tides-put-up-to-94-schools-at-risk-of-flooding-and-closures
Yes, I know, very mischievous of me to phrase it as a binary but when in Rome …
They were going to die anyway …
Another Covid-19 myth busted.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2021/02/coronavirus-the-average-covid-19-victim-had-16-years-of-life-left-in-them-study-finds.html
What a lovely bloke landlord Andrew McKenzie is.
After recently putting up the rent 14%, he then kicks out a mother and her son who has learning disabilities on the eve of a law change to protect tenants because "he deciding what to do".
He says it is business first, but then other landlords say theirs is an important public service, first.
Who to believe, or should we believe none of them?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/housing-affordability/124297655/rental-law-change-casualties-evicted-tenants-fear-homelessness
A quick search on the govt tenancy website shows the range of rents for 3bed homes in Wainuiomata is $500 – 550pw.
Increasing the rent to $430 pw shows that McKenzie had let the rent fall well behind market. It never does anyone any favours in the long run – and I can well understand the dismay of the mother who not only has to try and find a new home in a very tight market, but faces a rental jump in the order of $100pw at the same time.
A 3 bed home in Wainui is probably worth north of $700k if he'd been getting a rent of $380pw – gross income about $19.7k pa – that's a yield of under 3%. His net in the pocket after fixed costs, mortgage and tax was almost certainly less than $5kpa.
No wonder he wants to sell.
Apparently, he has not yet decided what to do with the property except to ‘renovate’ it AKA“a paint and a tidy up”.
Another ghost house.
By evicting when he did he avoided having to sell or move in. The new law requires him to do this.
Looks like he wants to sit on an empty house and enjoy capital gain. Nikki And Cole Prier don’t come into it for landlords.
At least it will have a nice fresh lick of paint and be tidied up. That’s all aspiring new tenants wish for nowadays and they won’t mind paying the price because beggars can’t be choosers.
Yup, the CG is already locked in.
Nikki And Cole Prier don’t come into it for landlords.
Given how far behind the market their rent had fallen – I'll bet you that their unfortunate personal position actually did 'come into it' for McKenzie.
We've got one older couple who've been with us for over a decade and they pay way below market – but we deliberately choose to carry them because they both contribute to their community magnificently.
But as I said above – in the long run it may not be doing either party any favours.
Make what you will of this:
As I indicated the other night – my own average rent at the present is $384 pw – a very similar number to the story above, and the properties are newer and in a more desirable suburb. Any thoughts on whether I should sell up and 'evict' a whole bunch of people from their homes?
Because honestly that's what's going through my mind. Our equity would do a whole lot better for us in Australia at the moment.
Will someone not think of the poor landlords!
That's pathetic. I'm giving you real life facts and figures from my experience as a real world landlord for almost 20 yrs. If you don't understand how the business works then anything you say is going to amount to little more than pious, futile prattle.
I'm not asking for anyone's pity – how I choose to run my business is precisely my responsibility and no-one else's. But I am prepared to educate you in some basic numbers and their consequences.
Stop with the ridiculous claim you are under so much pressure then.
And your real life facts and figures is simply virtue signalling.
Why do you think this is a 'ridiculous claim'?
As I mentioned the other night – one of the reasons why we moved to Australia 8yrs ago was because our mortage was indeed putting us under considerable pressure.
Essentially over the past 20yrs we've actually had to put money into the business to keep it afloat, and our tenants in their homes. We're now in the position of having shitloads of equity, but crap cash flow, and because I'm close to retiring that isn't something I can sustain anymore.
What would you do? Sell and evict – or hold on and hope the business environment doesn't continue to become more hostile?
Sell and evict – or hold on and hope
When the legal balance between landlords and tenants is about right, selling with a sitting tenant will be a plus, not a minus.
I get where you're coming from, but from the perspective of an investor they will often be looking to add value, usually a significant renovation, and vacant possession will be important to them.
And if the new owner wants to live in it ….
The trouble with this is that I've heard this description from not only landlords but farmers as well, except farmers don't like to flaunt their equity in public.
The total values of assets that can be realised is the figure that most people will focus on. If you have $10M in equity but moan your a**e off about pitiful cashflow, then you generally won't get a lot of sympathy.
I've made it clear I'm not asking for sympathy. I chose to get into this business and have stuck at it for 20 years now. That's my responsibility and no-one else's. All I'm doing here is explaining how the business works in order that people can make informed sense of these stories they read.
Rule No. 1 in all businesses is that cash flow is king. No matter how much shareholder funds you have, how much capital, stock, ring-fenced tax loss, forward orders or anything else – if you cannot meet this month's cash burn the business is bankrupt. And what I've explained here – overshared if you will – is that most residential rental businesses, like many NZ businesses (certainly those with substantial debt), are running on pretty thin cash flow margins. Or are being propped up by the owner's PAYE income.
Just as an extra data point – fixed costs used to run at about 20% of rental income, and here in Australia we can see this is still the case. By contrast in NZ they've risen to somewhere between 35 – 40% in recent years. And in the past most people could reasonably run the business themselves, but increasingly the environment has forced owners to use professional managers – and there's another 10% of cashflow gobbled up.
So even small extra costs imposed by new govt rules, or bad tenants, or even just letting the rent fall too far behind market because you felt sorry for a tenant, can have a big impact on the bottom line cashflow.
The total values of assets that can be realised is the figure that most people will focus on.
Equity means nothing unless I either sell or borrow more against it – and neither is a non-trivial decision. It's this background that helps decode what was going on with the original Wainui story above.
Stepping back, this is as you've pointed out, a wider theme with the whole NZ economy, too much has over the past three decades has tilted toward capital gain for profit, rather than cash flow. It's a structural flaw across many sectors that has distorted our decision-making and tends toward market failure. (I recall writing on this here at TS over a decade ago.)
It's especially chronic in agriculture. About that time we had looked at diversifying into a small horticultural business – and I recall one offer that was priced at over $2m for a business that barely turned over $160k. Utterly nuts – literally.
Which is why I was a strong supporter and promoter here of TOP's Comprehensive Capital Tax proposal. Not so much because I thought the party was a ripper – but because in my view it was a intelligently designed tax that would actually achieve what it was intended to do.
I was going to reply to your comment the other night about landlords creaming it but decided not to – it is sitting there half-finished. I think it is much better this way.
Why you would want to evict your tenants from your rentals is unclear to me except to free up equity. If you need (to do) that, then you can justify it, at least to yourself. It is your decision.
Don’t ask for business advice here, unless you really want/need it and intend to follow it. Ask a professional instead.
Don’t share your business wheeling and dealing here unless you want to cop the flack for it. Over-sharing carries many risks online for little gain/benefit even though your intention might be to provide a different PoV to guide/inform discussion and lift to a ‘higher plane’ than the usual ‘landlord-bashing’, which I respect and understand, but it doesn’t get you far, does it?
I could do similar things on discussion topics here but I’m not prepared to die in the ditch for those unless it is about a core value of mine – details are less important and there are other ways to get your point across without divulging too much personal information or history; arguments should be able to stand on their own legs of merit and persuasion.
These are my genuine well-meant thoughts for you.
Make of it what you will.
Bye
Fair enough.
Don’t ask for business advice here, unless you really want/need it and intend to follow it. Ask a professional instead.
In effect I am the professional here and I've been sharing information on how the residential rental business actually works. I've been doing this solely in the hope that some people here might stop treating their landlord as some spawn of the devil – and start focusing on the real reasons why the housing market in NZ has gotten into the mess it has.
But maybe you're right – the effort was doomed to be futile from the outset.
HT to Robert Guyton.
The other important tension that exists in this landlord/tenant discussion is for one party it is a business. The tax benefits, passive income etc, the leverage available…
The other party it is home, a place for family, a garden, pets, to love, laugh weep. A turangawaewae.
Failing to acknowledge the other view is where the argy barty begins.
Like Kiwi attitudes to land. One view is my property, my rights etc. The other is stewardship, a responsibility to pass it forward in better knick, to treat and see it as if it were alive. A strong spiritual bond.
Well Red, you've made tonnes of equity over the years.
Rent + tax preferences + equity increases = a reasonable rate of return.
You sound like you're in a steady place.
This is a leftie site so few will have patience to give non-Socialist advice.
But you are still of sufficiently sound mind that you can throw the dice another way than real estate.
In New Zealand, Victoria, or Queensland we need more people prepared to cash up and invest in fresh local growing business that's better for the whole economy.
You've done good. Do even better.
Reading the article, he actually comes across as a pretty decent landlord. If Red Logix's numbers correct, then he has been giving her a very good deal for a long time.
Unfortunately, this is a consequence of the new rental laws. If he was intending to sell or do a major upgrade, I thought under the new rules he could still give the 90 day notice?
So it seems a bit like he 'panicked' and gave notice now when in fact if he decides to sell in a years time he could still give notice.
More reason for rent controls then. More regulation around the cowboy residential industry would give surety and guidance to both tenant and landlord.
More rent controls will probably make more landlords sell which may be ok as possibly first home buyers would buy. But could be less rentals available. This tenant has been paying $380 per week up until recently which sounds extremely cheap, so he has been subsidizing her for some time now, so he sounds like a very reasonable landlord. He possibly could have given her notice several years ago and rented it out for far more if he had been greedy.
Just a hunch but I don't think he's reasonable at all, I think he's disorganised.
[RL: Deleted. Damaging speculation that puts the site at risk. Be more careful in future.]
So you think the landlord is disorganized because for example, he decided to charge her $380 per week instead of the going market rate for the last few years? Well you will be pleased to know that there are many landlords out there that are well organized, and will charge as much as they can, and also raise the rent as often as possible. Many other people would refer to them as greedy rather than organized!
Lol. RedLogix flexing his muscles from Brisbane.
I guess the elephant in the room is that no doubt the tax payer will subsidize the next rental through accomodation supplements.
I can't help but think that a big part of the issue we have is that public funds are paid to enable tennants to meet rents far above their normal income allows.
The policy came from a good place but the unintended consequence of the scheme sas that it has in effect acted as a wealth transfer and helps fuel the house price increases.
Imagine if there had been no supplements from govt, the money required to pay the huge rents required to pay the equally huge mortgages/provide a return just wouldnt be there, ergo banks would have been far more reluctant to lend and price increases would have closer matched incomes.
The govt getting out of social housing and essentially contracting it out to the private sector was a huge mistake and one that is not able to be undone in a hurry. Nonetheless the only solution I can see is that we get stuck in on a massive state backed building program aimed at sucking air out of house price increases. Pouring more money in to help first home buyers or renters for that matter will not help.
Given that he's also pissy about the healthy homes regulations anf the july deadline for that, and that timeframe means it's likely that most of the bonds issued in the last 6 months will be for healthy homes, it's possible he was keeping up with the market rates.
When myopic birdwatchers can’t tell the difference between a Kea and a Kiwi.
https://www.engadget.com/twitter-birdwatch-fact-checking-crowdsourcing-partisanship-citation-173611388.html
Still, it is an experiment in its early days so let’s watch & learn from it.
Some of the findings are not at all surprising if you have been around the block more than once 😉
here is a civil debate that is well worth taking the time to watch…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEq_1eKcph8
Taibbi & Eskow: The Marcuse Match
Nice to see MIQ workers getting first doses of Covid vaccine today – gratitude and respect are due for the work they do.
or just pay them some really really awesome bonuses – weekly.
Stiffing 'em on a goodly portion of the interest and commissions, too.
https://twitter.com/KawsachunNews/status/1362176105332019201
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https://twitter.com/KawsachunNews/status/1362192605996539911
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1362176105332019201.html